Alfalfa-mill.



E. F. ROSE.

ALFALPA MILL.

, APPLIDATION PILBD MAY 20,1909. 1,006,596. Patented ont. 24, 1911.

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ALFALPA MILL.

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E. F. ROSE.

ALFALPA MILL.

APIPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1r f.

1,006,596, Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

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E. F. ROSE.

ALPALFA MILL.

APPLwATxoN Hmm MAY 20,1909.

Patented 0G13. 24, 1911.

UNITED STATESy PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD F. ROSE, F NEBRASKA CITY, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOB. T0 KANSAS CITY FEED COMPANY, IMITED, OF PBEGOTT, ARIZONA TERRITORY, A CORPORATION 0F ARIZONA TERRITORY,

ALFALFvA-MILL.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 24., 1911.

To all whom 'it 'may concern:

Vcitizen of the United States, .residing at Nebraska City, in the county of Otoe and Stat-e of Nebraska, Ahave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alfalfa- Mills, of which the following is a specification.V

The object of this invention is to produce l an improved machine for reducing alfalfa hay and the like Without reducing a material vportion of the leaves to powder.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is alongitudinal vertical section through an alfalfa millembodying the features of'my invention. Fig. 1*1 is a detail view of the reducing device. Figs. 2 and 3 constitute a top plan View of the machine on a larger scale than that in Fig.' 1. Fig. 4 is a -vertical transverse section takensubstantially on the plane of dotted line 4'4 of Fig. 3. 1gs.

'Fig 5 is a section on line 5' of Fig. 2.

Ghalrd 7 are detail views of a rlziprocatory s e f The embodiment herein shdwn of my invention may be briefiy described as comprising means for stripping the leaves from the stalks, means for reducin the stalks, means4 for conveying the stals from the first mentioned means to the second mentioned ineens, and means lfor preventing the leaves that have been stri ped oil theV stalks from being acted upon y the stalkreducin mechanlsm. 4As ilustrated in Fig. 1, the variou mechanisms of the machine are supported upon a. framework 1 which may be of any suitable construction. l

The. alfalfa hay is carried to the leafand-stalks-separating Vmeans, in this instance, by an endless belt conveyer 2 comprising the belt. 3 and the two rollers 4 and 5. The roller 4 fis fixed upon a shaft'f mounted iii-suitable bearingsv in the frame work, while the roller 5 is carried by a shaft 7 which preferably is mounted in slidable bearings 8in order thatisaid roller may be 4moved to take u slack in thebelt. .The upper run of the elt may be sup orted in anysuitable lWay, as, for example, y means of r11-'i159 underlying the edges of said'upper run.

The lea-f-and-stalk-separatlng means compises. in this instance, a rolly 10 which mayl built u of sections 11, as indicated in Fig. 4, which sections are mounted upon the squared portion of a shaft 12. The end sectlons of the roll 10 have annular flanges 13 thereon. The intermediate sections of said roll carry peripheral teeth 14, the teethof said sectlons bein staggered. As shown in Fig. 4, the'teet 14 are spaced longitudinally of the roll 10 relatively far apart.

Below the roll 10 and at opposite sides thereof are rolls 15 and 16. The roll 15, in this .instaneeconsists of sectionsl 17 (Fig. 4) mounted upon the squared portion of a shaft 18 and carrying eripherall teeth 19 which alternate with.t e teeth upon the roll 10. A plurality of rods 20 extend longitudinally of the roll 15st a. suitable distance from the axis of said roll 4or a purpse to appear hereinafter. The roll 16 consists of sections 21carryin peripheral teeth which alternate with t e teeth 19 upon the roll 15. Said seetions'are supported upon a shaft 22.

The roll 10 is driven at a relatively low speed, say thirtyffive revolutions per minute. while the rolls 15. and 16 run at a relatively high speed, 11s for example, 800 revolutions per minute. The alfalfa hay is carried by the teeth of the roll 10 around into the space between said roll and the roll 15, where the difference in speed of rotation of said rolls causes the stems or stalks to be broken and the leaves to be 4stripped therefrom. The roll 16 serves to break the stems and strip the leaves of an;7 hay which may find its way downward between the roll 10 and the conveyer 2. and also serves to clear the roll 10 of any stems which may i tend to adhere thereto.

To assist in feeding the alfalfa hay forward to'the rolls 10. 15 and 16, I provide a portion of the curved guide plateV 26, said ride plate and position. ly conplate 'extending between said the feed roller 23, in an inc ined The'plate 30 is preferably adjust nected with the guide plate 26 in order that' 'its position maybe adjusted for varying 'lengths of hav.l I have herein shown a ,wardly 'and the plate 30 late 3Q, which flange is slotted to receive bo ts 32 extending through a flange 33 upon the guide plate. The forward edge of the plate 8O is slotted as at 84 for the passage of the fingers 25 upon the feed roller 23. The lower edge of the plate 30 mayl be serrated, as shown at 35 in Fig. 4. As the roller 23 revolves, the fingers 25 urge the 'ha forward toward the roll: 10, the plate 30 an the guide plate 26 being moved upto provide increased 'space for the hay thus fed forward. Said guide plate 26 are then moved downward,

flange 31 upon the the plate 30 stripping gers 25, and the hay'between itself andthe roll 1() so that the teeth u on said roll may move the hay along to ,tile roll 15. The means herein shown for thus moving the guide plate 2G Iand the stripper plate VO comprises a shaft' 3 6 carrying eccentrics 37, the eccentric straps 38 being connected to the guide plate, as shown in Fig. 1. At each side of the conn veyer 2 are uide walls 39 which form continuations o the vertical side walls 40. The stems and the 'leaves stripped from said stems fall from between the rolls 15 and 1.6 onto4 suitable carrying means, as, for example, an endless belt conveyer 41, the endless belt 42 thereof bein mounted upon roll- 'ers v43 and 44. The rol a shaft 45y which preferably is carried 1n adustable bearings'46. The upper run of the t 42 may be supported by means suoli as rails 47. ik

Forward of the` conveyer 41lris another conveyer 48 constituting virtually a continu` ation of the first mentioned conveyer, anl

epen space 49 being 4provided between the forward end of the conveyor 41 and the rear endl of the conveyer 48. The leaves and stems are transferred across said open space by'an air blast created by suitablemeans, as, for example, a fan 50.' Any foreign matt-er contained in the hay which would b e in-A jiirious to the reduci mechanism, such as stones or metallic artic es, will drop through tlu space 49 and fail to be carried forward to the reducing devioes. -The space between in. separating mechanism and the reducing mechanism is Vpreferably inclosed Within a ractically airtight chamber. 1 have herein shown sheet metal inclosing walls 51, 52, 5:; :iL-t, 55, 56 and 57.

The conveyer 48 consists Vof an endless belt 58 carried by rollers 59 and 60, the roller 59 being mounted u on a shaft 61 which may he carriedl Ain a justable bearings 62, as

shown.. The roller is fixed upon a .haft

The 'reducing ga of rotary saws 64- mounted upon a shi V'aiid driven at a high rate of speed. id saws beiig spaced apart by means of washer. a esawsand the washers are mechanism comprises a the hay from the fin. guide plate 26 confining the 44 is mounted uponv able bracket 93 secured to the (l5 by means comprising a shoulder or collar G7 on the shaft and a sleeve (38 serew-thrvuded on said shaft. .i inni nut ('l) nuiy be eniployed to lock the elements oi the rotary grinding device together.

Two substantially cylindrical heads 7 0 are fixed in the opposite sides of the supporting frame 1 by means of bolts 7l, and provide bearings 72 for the shaft (35 and the sleeve 68. The saws (54am of slightly less diam eter than the heads 70.

Slidably mounted upon the heads und inclosing the saws 64 is a cylindrical shell 73 having n feeding opening 74 therein extending roin a point near the roller-GO to a point near the top of said shell. The portion of the shell extending from the roller 6() to the rear side of the. saws is perforated, as indicated in Figs. l, 6 and 7. These perforations may be formed in various ways. In the drawings l. have shown them as formed by punching up tangs 73a from the shell 73 so as to form openings 7 which are inclined at an angle with the radius ofsaid shell. The shell 73, in this instance., is ar ranged to be reciprocated longitudinally of the series of'savrs (54 by means herein shown 'clamped together and secured to the .shaft as comprising a rod 76 slidably mounted in bearings 77 and carryinga bracket 78 to which the shell 73 i's fixed by rivets 79. A pitinan 80 connects the rod 7G with a crank 81 2), the latter being rotatably mounted in bearings 83.

l' Forwardly of the saws 64 and above the conveyer 48 is a toothed feed roller 84 having annular peripheral grooves 85 milled therein to accommodate the peripheral portions of the saws. The feed roller 84 is mounted on a shaft 86. The greater part of the reduction of the stems' is effected between the saws and the roll 84. I Ahave obtained good results by driving the feed roll 84 at the rate of lttlrevolutions per minute.

yThe roll 84 rims beneath the curved hood'or casing 55, the latter being sufliciently large to provide a clear space 55a abovejt-he roll for the assage1 of the leaves, as will appear liereina ter.

The various mechanisms 'of the machine may be driven in any suitable way. I have herein shown them as driven from a counter shaft 87 (Fig. 2). A belt 88 runs over a pulle 90 (Big. 4) on the shaft 18.

91 is a belt conveying power from the countei'shaft to a shaft 92 mounted in a suitsupporting The shaft 92 carries a tight pulley `'95. Fixed on the frame. 94 and a loose pulley 89 on the countershaft and a pulley v formedA upon the end of a shaft 82 (Fig.

shaft 92 is a bevel .gear 96 v(Fig 3) which shaft 98 meshes with a similar gear 97 on a Shaft 98 (Illis. 4). A worm 99 fast on the m esA with a worm wheel 100 fixed-uponi the shaft 12. S rocket wheels 101 and 102 wit -aV pinion 111 fast on the 'shaft 24. The

1U shafts 24e'a'l'id 36 re'v Ive at the same rate.

A belt 112 exten sfrom the countershaft to a Vdoubl'e-ihed, pulle 113 fixed on" the shaft'22. Frio said pu ley runs a belt 114 that drives the fan shaft. Achain belt 115 '(Fig. 2) `conveys power from said fan shaft to a shaft 116 .upon which is mounted a s ur gear wheel 117 thatsaneshes with an i ler gear 118 (Fig. 1 Which in turn meshes with a spur gear 1901i the conveyer shaft 63. r The ge'ar 1.19 drives a inion 120 on the shaft 86. U on one end o th 'shaft 116 is iixed a beve spur gear 121 g;'2 meshingwth a pinion 122 on theV crank s aft 82. A' eltconveyer 123 is drivenirom the shaft ,63 through a chain belt 124. The saws 6 4 are driven throught-the medium of a belt 125 running over a ulley 126 (Fig. 5.) to a `suitably driven sha (not shown).

In operation, alfalfa hay is placed upon theconveyer 2 and carried fonw rd'by said conveyer to the leafand stem separatin mechanism. ,'The fingers 25 upon the Afee roller 23 ur 'the hay forward as the guide lite 26 an thetippeiyplate rise. Said plates then desc/ stripping the hay from the fingers 25 land; ressing `it into contact with the slowly revoiving roll 10. The teeth sl-i htly retard the movement of the hay, and tiur: tend to'make the feed uniform in quantity. The rollv 10V carries the hay'forvvvaid to the rapidly revolving roll' 15, the teeth of which, alternating with the teeth upon the roll 10, break the stems 'and strip theleaves therefrom. The teeth upon the rolls 10 and l 15 being spaced relatively far apart,' there is practically no tendency to cut lip or grind the leaves.V The square bars 20 assist to'break any stems t-h-at- Vcome into contact with said bars. The worm-gear drive for the roll 10 prevents said-roll from being driven, and caused to rotate more rapidly than it should, by the ction of the swiftly revolvin rll 15 upon the' ha carried by said rol 10. The leaves. an stems drop onto the conveyerfll. and are cartied-'forward lto the space 49 vacross which the leaves and stems are blown by the fan 50, the stems .falling onto the-'conveyer 48. The stems carried tothe rapidly revolving 5 saws 64 b y the conveyer 48 and the feed relation to the the broken roller 484 are reduced by said saws to fragments of the desired size. The material is carried forward between the saws and the shell '73 until it reaches the perforated portion of said shell where the :pieces which are small enough drop through the perforations, the she] acting as a shaking screen by reason of its reciprocator motion. The tangs 73a practically blank t e openin s 75, thereby preventing the stems, from eine' forced through said openings by 'centrifugal force before the stems are suliiciently reduced. The stems that lie between'the saws ,64 and are carried around by said' saws act as a brush in assisting the saws to discharge the cut material through the erforated shell 73. `As the stems are carrled around the space between thets'aws and the shell, said stems are moved longitudinally of the gang of saws by the shell until they are gradually reduced toa size :enabling them to pass out through 4the perfrations 75. The leaves. bein lighter than the stems, are blown by the an 50 ,along `the course indicated by the dotted arrow in Fig. 1, and, assing through the space 55, enter the screen 73 and uicld pass' through the perforations 7 5. he eed roller 84c-rotates relatively slowly, while thesaws revolve so rapidly as very uickly to dispose of the stems fed to them4 y-sa1d feed roller, there being no accumulation of material in the space between the cylinder 7 Band the saws. In their rotation the saws create so strong an air current that the leaves are blown through the perfor-ations 'Q5 without being cut up by the saws. The dialneter, thickness and spacin of the saws, their speed of rotation, t e length ofstroke of 'the perforated shell 73 and its riite of movement, thel size of the erforatio'ns of saidgshell and the width, o 'the space between said shell' and thesaws are deteriiiined by the capacity desired and the de ee of nencss to Whic the material is to reducedi If have found that only a negligible po'rtion of the leaves is reduced and that the stems are reduced to `pieces about one-fourth of an inch long,

when the saws are nine inches in diameter, three-sixty-fourths of an inch in thickness, spaced one-fourth of an inch apart, and driven at the rate of 2400 R. P. M., the shell 73 having 360 one-inchstrokes per minute and the perforations 75 being one-fourth of an-inehwidc. The material Vpassing through the shell 73 is handled in any suitabl'eway. It ymay bedischarg'edfnpoh-a eonveyer 123, sis-shown.

I would have it understood that the 1nvention' is not limitedto tiedetails' of construction and operation herein set forth' for various modifications will occur to t skilled'in the 'art- I claim as my. na'ention:

1. -lnA a machine of the character described,

\ rolls rotating in opposite directions, a third y stein-breaking and leaf-stripping mean.s,a

means for moving roll having peripheral teeth that intermesh with the teeth of the first roll, means for rotating the rolls, the first and third rolls rotating in thel same direction, the first roll being located above and between the other rolls, and means for guiding the material between therst and second rolls.

2. In an alfalfa mill, in combinatiom' leaf-stripping means, hay toward said first mentioned means, and means for stripping the liayfrom said moving-means.

3.V In an. alfalfa mill, in combination, stem-breakin and leaf-stripping means, a feed roll'having a peripheralrow of fingers for moving hay toward said means, and means for stripping the hay from said finers.

g 4. In an alfalfa mill, in' combination, stem-breaking and leaf-stripping means, a feed roll having a peridpheral row of fingers for moving hay tower said means, a device adapted to strip means for reciprocatin said device.4

5. In an alfalfa mill, in combination,

stem breaking and device for periodically pressing hay into engagement with said means, afeed roll, a device for stripping hay from s y'd feed roll, said devices being secured tdgether, and means for reci rocating said devices.

6. In an a falfa mill, in combination, stem-breaking and leaf-stri ping means comprising a roll, a curved p ate arranged adjacent to said roll, a feed roll, aj late for stripping hay from said feed roll, said' plates being secured tofrether, and means for Vreciprocating said ates.

7. In an a falfa mill, in combination, stem-breaking and leaf-stripping means comprising a roll, a conveyer'arranged to convey hay to said roll,` a curved plate arranged adjacent to said roll at the side opposite to said conveyer, a feed roll above the discharge end of said conveyer, a plate for stripping hay from said feed roll, said plates being ysecured together, and means for reciprocating said plates.

8. In an alfalfa mill, in combination, stem-breaking and leaf-stripping means comprising a roll; a conveyer arranged convey ha to said roll, a'pre'sser plate arran'gedadgacentto said rol at the side o posite to said conveyer) and curved on t e arc of a circle substantially concentric with said roll, a feed roll above the dischar end ed at of said conveyor, a stripper plate atta hay from said fingers, and" to said space, anda cutter ari-an 4 upon the material-carried by t e secon con one edge to the upper edge of said presser. plate, the opposite edge of said stripper plate lying a jacent to said feed roll, and means for reci rocati said plates.v

9. In an a falfa mill, in` combination, means for reducing stems; a feed roll cooperating with said reducing means, the stems passing between said reducing means and one side of said feed roll; means forming a passageway for leaves at the other side of said feed roll; and means located forwardly of the 'feed roll for causing leaves to pass through said passageway. l

rotary reducing device, a curved screen ad jacent to said reducing device, a roll coperatin with said reducing device, the stems passin between said reducing device and one si e of said roll, means forming a passageway for leaves at the other side ofsaid roll, said passageway communicating with the interior of said screen and means for causing leaves to pass through vsaid passageway.

`11. In an alfalfa mill, in combinatioma annular peri heral grooves therein to accommodate t e peripheral portions ofthe saws, means for rotating said saws at al high speed'.v and means for rotating said roll in the ipposite'direction at a trelatively low spec i 12. In an alfalfa mill, in combination, saws' for reducing stems, a feed roll cope ting with said saws, means for conducting leaves and stems toward said saws and roll, a fan for inducing an air current through the material advancing toward the saws and roll so as `to separate the leaves from the stems, and means forming a passageway for leaves around the roll at the side opposite the saws, the air current carrying the leaves through said passageway.

13. In a machine of the character de scribed, a casing, means mounted within said casing for artially reducing the material, means for 4eeding the material to said reducing means, a conveyer for receiving and conveying the partially reduced material, a second conveyer having Yitsreceiving end .located below and separated from the discharge end of the first conveyer, means for the space between irst conveyer and the receiving end' of the edfto o 'erate veyer.

' EDWARD F.1ROSE.

10.In an alfalfa mill, invcombination, a-

second conveyer tocarry the material across gang of rotary saws, a toothed roll having causing an upward current -of air throu h the dischargeend of t e- 

